According to reports, an experimental drug for motor neuron disease (MND) has shown signs of decreasing the procession of the dangerous illness in a landmark trial. The results of the tests also provide fresh hope after a phase-three trial of the same drug failed previously to make a difference to patient outcomes after six months of treatment.
The latest results suggest that when patients continued taking the drug, known as Tofersen, for another six months, they experienced lung function and better mobility, while some people are reporting remarkable outcomes.
Dame Pamela Shaw, professor of neurology at the University of Sheffield, said that he believes this is really significant, and he has done over 25 trials and never heard patients reporting improvement or stabilisation. The experimental drug works by targeting a genetic mutation, known as SOD1, which is the only known cause for 2 percent of MND patients, but experts say that the results could provide new class of treatments for a wide cohort of patients.
MND is a progressive disease, which is also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis that affects 5,000 people in the United Kingdom. This fatal disease is progressively destroying nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain, resulting in cutting communication with muscles that then start to weaken, waste, and stiffen.
